Friday, February 6, 2015

Mr. Hockey in Saskatoon . . . Warriors retire No. 28 . . . Cougars end skid












F Codey Burki (Brandon, 2002-07) signed a contract extension (one year plus an option) with Olten (Switzerland, NL B). This season, with Olten, he has 13 goals and 18 assists in 39 games. He was pointless in two games on loan to Fribourg-Gottéron (Switzerland, NL A). Burki has dual Canadian-Swiss citizenship. . . .
F Chad Bassen (Regina, Vancouver, Medicine Hat, Everett, 2000-04) has signed a two-year extension with the Iserlohn Roosters (Germany, DEL). This season, with Iserlohn, he has 11 goals and 11 assists in 45 games. Bassen has dual Canadian-German citizenship.
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Gordie Howe, Mr. Hockey, made what may well have been his last public appearance on Friday night in Saskatoon. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix was there. His story is right here.
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There is another story right here from the Howe family visit to Saskatoon.
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A year ago, Tristen Pfeifer wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Today, even NHL Central Scouting has taken notice. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has a good read right here on Pfeifer, an 18-year-old freshman from Arizona who is having an impact on the Everett Silvertips’ back end.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:

In Regina, D Colby Williams had a goal and three assists to lead the Pats to a 5-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Pats erased 1-0 and 2-1 deficits as they scored the game’s last four goals. . . . Pats F Patrick D’Amico tied it 2-2 with his 16th goal, shorthanded, at 2:32 of the third. . . . Williams broke the tie with his sixth at 8:32. . . . Regina F Jake Leschyshyn, brought in for the game from the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers, scored his first goal at 17:41 of the third, on the PP. He was a first-round selection by Red Deer in the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft, but was dealt to Regina at the trade deadline last month. . . . F Sam Steel had two assists for the Pats. . . . D Brycen Martin had two assists for the Blades. . . . Saskatoon G Nik Amundrud stopped 49 shots, 18 more than Regina’s Daniel Wapple. . . . The Pats have beaten the Blades the last 12 times they have met. . . . Regina (29-17-6), which is likely to finish second in the East Division, has points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Blades slipped to 15-32-3. . . . The Pats are at home to Spokane tonight, while the Blades are in Swift Current. . . .

WHL team logoIn Prince Albert, F Jake DeBrusk scored at 3:32 of OT to give the Swift Current Broncos a 4-3 victory over the Raiders. . . . DeBrusk has 31 goals this season. . . . Raiders F Tim Vanstone forced OT with his seventh goal at 3:13 of the third period. . . . The Broncos had a 2-0 lead in the second period, only to have the Raiders tie it. . . . F Jay Merkley gave the Broncos a 3-2 lead with his 12th goal at 1:41 of the third, on a PP. . . . D Max Lajoie had two assists for the Broncos. . . . Merkley also had an assist, while D Brett Lernout had a goal, his 11th, and an assist. . . . D Jesse Lees scored twice for the Raiders, giving him 10. . . . The Broncos had F Coda Gordon back in their lineup. Gordon, 20, had been out since Jan. 7 with an undisclosed injury. . . . Among the Raiders’ scratches was F Kris Schmidli (undisclosed injury). . . . The Broncos (24-23-5), who entertain Saskatoon tonight, are third in the East Division, seven points ahead of Moose Jaw. . . . The Raiders (21-30-2) have lost three in a row (0-2-1) and are two points behind Moose Jaw. . . . The Raiders are at home to Calgary tonight. . . .

In Moose Jaw, the Spokane Chiefs opened a six-game East Divison swing with a 3-2 victory over the Warriors. . . . Prior to the game, the Warriors honoured F Ryan Smyth by retiring his number (28). . . . Chiefs F Riley Whittingham broke a 1-1 tie with his ninth goal at 12:11 of the second period. . . . Spokane F Markson Bechtold made it 3-1 at 17:09 with his sixth goal. . . . Moose Jaw F Axel Blomqvist scored his 20th goal of the season. . . . The Warriors were 0-for-4 on the PP; the Chiefs’ PP didn’t get off the bench. . . . Spokane G Tyson Verhelst stopped 32 shots, six more than Moose Jaw’s Zach Sawchenko. . . . Warriors F Jesse Shynkaruk served the second of a three-game suspension. . . . The Chiefs (25-22-4) are fourth in the U.S. Division, two points behind Seattle. Spokane holds down the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot. Spokane visits Regina tonight. . . . The Warriors (21-28-4), who will play their next seven games on the road, are fourth in the East Divison, seven points out of a playoff spot. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has a story right here on the Smyth pre-game celebration. . . . Gourlie was a busy man; his game story is right here. . . .

In Cranbrook, the Brandon Wheat Kings erased a 3-1 deficit with four third-period goals to beat the Kootenay Ice, 5-3. . . . The Ice took a 3-1 lead into the second and third periods. . . . Brandon F Quintin Lisoway cut that to 3-2 with his eighth goal, at 4:15 of the third, and D Eric Roy tied it, with his fourth, at 7:33. With seven defencemen dressed, Roy actually moved up to the forward ranks for the third period and also drew an assist on Lisoway’s goal. . . . Brandon F Tim McGauley scored his club’s last two goals, at 7:48 and 19:57, the latter into an empty net. . . . McGauley, who also had an assist, has 33 goals. . . . Wheat Kings D Colton Waltz had two assists, as did D Kale Clague. He was playing his first game since Oct. 28 after suffering a wrist injury in early November at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. This was only his 16th game of the season. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau earned his 250th career regular-season assist when he was in on F Luke Philp’s 23rd goal at 11:46 of the first period. . . . F Tim Bozon scored his 21st goal for the Ice and F Levi Cable got his 23rd. . . . Ice D Tanner Lischynsky had two assits. . . . Brandon was 0-for-5 on the PP as the Ice took the game’s last five minors. . . . The Ice PP was 0-for-1. . . . The Wheat Kings (39-9-5), who lead the Eastern Conference by 10 points over Medicine Hat, have points in their last 11 games (10-0-1). . . . The Ice (27-25-1) has lost two in a row. It holds down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot, a point ahead of Edmonton. . . . The same teams meet again tonight in Cranbrook. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story from Friday right here. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Brayden Burke had a goal and two assists to help the Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The game was delayed for about 70 minutes with 17 minutes left in the third period due to a brine leak that helped create a hole in the ice. . . . Burke has five goals. . . . F Trevor Cox, the WHL’s leading scorer, got his 23rd goal and added two assists. He now has 90 points. . . . Cox gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 10:08 of the first, but the Hurricanes scored the next four goals. . . . F Carter Folk tied it with his eighth, at 12:53 of the first, and F Giorgio Estephan got his 13th at 17:14. Burke upped it to 3-1 at 19:02. . . . Hurricanes F Tyler Wong got his 22nd at 9:03 of the second. . . . Tigers F Cole Sanford scored his 42nd goal at 14:14 of the second, allowing him to keep pace with Kelowna F Rourke Chartier for the league lead. . . . Lethbridge G Jayden Sittler stopped 34 shots, six more than Medicine Hat’s Marek Langhamer. . . . The Hurricanes (14-31-6) have won two in a row. . . . The Tigers (35-14-3) have lost three straight (0-2-1) for the first time this season. . . . The same teams will clash tonight in Medicine Hat. . . .

In Prince George, F Jari Erricson scored twice to lead the Cougars to a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Erricson, who had missed four games with a concussion, has 17 goals. . . . Cougars F Kody McDonald broke a 1-1 tie with his fourth goal, at 14:19 of the first period. . . . Erricson stretched the lead with second-period goals at 4:54 and 10:40. . . . Edmonton D Dysin Mayo scored his 11th goal and added and assist, while F Edgars Kulda had two assists. . . . Prince George F Aaron Macklin scoed his fourth goal, to open the game’s scoring, but he left later with an undisclosed injury and didn’t return. . . . Cougars G Ty Edmonds stopped 34 shots. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry tied Laurent Brossoit’s franchise career record for most regular-season appearances (147). However, Jarry left at 10:40 of the second period after surrounding four goals on 16 shots. . . . Edmonton F Cole Benson played in his 200th regular-season game. . . . The Cougars (21-31-2) snapped a 12-game losing skid (0-10-2). They are fifth in the B.C. Division, but now just two points behind third-place Kamloops. . . . The Oil Kings (24-24-6), who hold down the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, have lost three straight. . . . They’ll play again tonight in Prince George. . . .

In Kelowna, F Rourke Chartier scored once and added two assists to lead the Rockets to a 5-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Chartier leads the WHL with 42 goals. . . . His goal, 12 minutes into the second period, broke a 1-1 tie. . . . Rockets F Tyson Baillie scored his 21st goal just 18 seconds later for a 3-1 lead. . . . Kelowna F Nick Merkley had two assists, while Baillie and F Cole Linaker each had a goal and an assist. . . . Linaker has nine goals. . . . F Deven Sideroff scored his 16th goal and added an assist for Kamloops. . . . Kamloops had import defencemen Michael Fora (undisclosed injury) and Patrik Maier (suspected concussion) back in the lineup. . . . The Rockets are 6-0-0 in the season series; the Blazers are 0-5-1. . . . The Rockets (40-8-4) have points in seven straight (6-0-1) and are the first WHL team to 40 victories. They lead the overall standings by one point over Brandon. . . . The Blazers (20-28-6) have lost two in a row. They are third in the B.C. Division, a point ahead of Vancouver. . . . The Rockets and Blazers are to meet again tonight, this time in Kamloops. . . .

In Vancouver, F Ty Ronning’s first goal, at 19:02 of the third period, broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Giants a 5-4 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Rebels D Colton Bobyk had given his side a 4-3 lead with his third goal at 11:14 of the third. . . . Vancouver F Alex Baer tied it with his 11th at 11:59. . . . Red Deer D Austin Strand took a kneeing major and game misconduct for a hit on Ronning at 17:01 of the third. Ronning scored the winner on the ensuing PP. . . . Giants D Josh Thrower and D Brennan Menell each had two assists. F Zane Jones scored his 25th goal — his seventh since being acquired from Lethbridge at the trade deadline — and had an assist, while Baer added an assist to his goal. . . . Red Deer F Wyatt Johnson scored No. 21 and added an assist. . . . Red Deer F Conner Bleackley scored his 27th goal, at 15:20 of the first period, for a 2-0 lead. But the Rebels captain later took a hit from D Clayton Kirichenko, left the game and didn’t return. . . . The Giants (21-28-3) had lost four in a row (0-3-1). The victory got them to within a point of third-place Kamloops in the B.C. Division. Vancouver travels to Kent, Wash., to play Seattle tonight. . . . The Rebels (28-16-8), who are in Victoria tonight, are 1-1-1 in their last three. They are second in the Central Division, a point ahead of idle Calgary. . . .

In Everett, F Kohl Bauml scored the game’s first goal with 0.1 second left in the first period and the Silvertips went on to a 4-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Everett has a 4-1-1 edge in the season series. . . . F Carson Stadnyk and F Nikita Scherbak each had two assists for Everett, which built a 4-0 lead. . . . F Jordan Topping scored his sixth goal for the Americans, at 17:32 of the third period. . . . Bauml has 25 goals. . . . F Dawson Leedahl scored his eighth goal and added an assist for the winners. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz stopped 19 shots, six fewer than Tri-City’s Austin Lotz. . . . Everett (33-15-4) has won two in a row and has a five-point leader over Portland atop the U.S. Division. . . . The Americans (24-25-3) are 0-2-1 in their last four. They hold down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot. . . . The same two teams will play again tonight, this time in Kennewick, Wash. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Roberts Lipsbergs scored twice and added two assists as his Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the Portland Winterhawks, 5-3. . . . Portland had an eight-game winning streak snapped. . . . Seattle scored the game’s first three goals, only to have Portland roar back and tie it on F Dominic Turgeon’s 16th goal at 5:56 of the third. . . . F Ryan Gropp gave the Thunderbirds a 4-3 lead with a deflection at 7:52. He’s got 21 goals. . . . Lipsbergs added insurance at 14:14. . . . Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his 36th goal. . . . Seattle D Shea Theodore had two assists and now holds the Breakers/Thunderbirds franchise record for career regular-season points by a defenceman. It had been held by Craig Channell. . . . Thunderbirds D Evan Wardley scored his fifth goal and added an assist, while D Turner Ottenbreit had two assists. . . . Seattle was 1-for-5 on the PP; Portland was 0-for-1. . . . The Winterhawks are without F Alex Schoenborn (undisclosed injury). Paul Danzer of the Vancouver Columbian reports that Schoenborn is week-to-week. . . . Seattle (26-19-6) has won three straight and sits third in the U.S. Division, nine points behind Portland. Seattle is at home to Vancouver tonight. . . . The Winterhawks are 31-20-3 and now trail U.S. Division-leading Everett by five points. They’ll play Sunday in Portland.
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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:05 PM
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